Japan announced on Friday 12 players who will represent the country at the next World Baseball Classic.
In this list, there are three MLB players: Shohei Othani (Los Angeles Angels), Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres) and Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs).
The World Baseball Classic will be presented in Japan, Taiwan and the United States from March 8 to 21. 20 countries will be present during the competition. Other countries in Asia are South Korea, Taiwan and Australia.
Unsurprisingly, Latin America will be strongly represented with Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama and Nicaragua.
The United States and Canada will also be present.
« I remember listening to those games very carefully when I was a kid, » Ohtani said. Now it’s my turn to play. I really want to play well and win the competition. »
This will be the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic. The Japanese have won it twice, while the United States and the Dominican Republic have won it once.